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Physics
Our thermodynamic arrow of time explains why the entropy of any isolated system always increases. But it can't explain what we perceive.
All telescopes are fundamentally limited in what they can see. JWST reveals more distant galaxies than Hubble, but still can't see them all.
Although the Big Bang occurred at an instant in time long ago, we still see the light from it. Will the evidence ever disappear completely?
Northern lights in the American South, clusters of huge geomagnetic storms—the Sun is throwing a tantrum right on schedule.
There are two different ways to measure the expansion rate of the Universe, and they don't agree. And no, new measurements don't help.
Predicted way back in the 1960s, the discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012 completed the Standard Model. Here's why it remains fascinating.
A new technique that can automatically classify phases of physical systems could help scientists investigate novel materials.
Scientists are searching for dark matter particles that are trillions or even quadrillion times lighter than the more traditional searches.
The number of planets that could support life may be far greater than previously thought, a recent discovery suggests.
There are many theories of gravity out there, and many interpretations of wide binary star data. What have we really learned from it all?
A human hand has the power to split wooden planks and demolish concrete blocks. A trio of physicists investigated why this feat doesn’t shatter our bones.
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Physicist Sean Carroll on entropy, complexity, and the origins of life:
Practically all of the matter we see and interact with is made of atoms, which are mostly empty space. Then why is reality so... solid?
If the electromagnetic and weak forces unify to make the electroweak force, maybe, at higher energies, something even grander happens?
Lord Kelvin is thought to have said there was nothing new to discover in physics. His real view was the opposite.
In the infant Universe, particle physics reigned supreme.
First derived by Emmy Noether, for every symmetry a theory possesses, there's an associated conserved quantity. Here's the profound link.
Even if you aren't in the path of totality, you can still use the solar eclipse to measure how long it takes the Moon to orbit Earth.
Physicists just can't leave an incomplete theory alone; they try to repair it. When nature is kind, it can lead to a major breakthrough.
Symmetries aren't just about folding or rotating a piece of paper, but have a profound array of applications when it comes to physics.
Leap day only comes once every four years, including in 2024. But the reason we have it, including when we do and don't, may surprise you.
Everything acts like a wave while it propagates, but behaves like a particle whenever it interacts. The origins of this duality go way back.
So far, gravitational waves have revealed stellar mass black holes and neutron stars, plus a cosmic background. So much more is coming.
For thousands of years, humanity had no idea how far away the stars were. In the 1600s, Newton, Huygens, and Hooke all claimed to get there.
Although many of Einstein's papers revolutionized physics, there's one Einsteinian advance, generally, that towers over all the rest.
Recent measurements of CERN data seem to disagree with standard-model predictions about how the Higgs boson decays, though further analysis is needed to confirm the observations.
As planets with too many volatiles and too little mass orbit their parent stars, their atmospheres photoevaporate, spelling doom for some.
The DUNE project will beam tiny neutrinos across vast distances. But the first step involved moving a heavier material: 1 million tons of rock.
6mins
Science writer George Musser on the unsung role of friendship in science’s biggest discoveries.
Explore how QBism reframes science by placing the observer at the heart of quantum reality.